Chapter 85: Star Chasing Journey (6)
“Wake up, you sleepyheads! We’ve arrived at Cosmic Village!”
After an unknown period of silence in the darkness, Li Mingzhu’s clear yet wicked voice finally rang out.
Liu Sheng groggily woke up and opened her eyes to see that all the lights in the car were finally on.
She gently nudged Wen Weilan’s head, which was resting on her shoulder.
Wen Weilan only woke up with a yawn.
The other Hunters of the Strange were similar; despite repeatedly warning themselves not to fall asleep in an environment surrounded by weird objects, they had still unconsciously drifted off.
Outside the window, it was still dim and unclear.
“Next up is our free activity time!” Li Mingzhu smiled somewhat stiffly, “We’ll meet again tomorrow morning at the same time!”
“Wait!” Chen Shanyuan wanted to ask what ‘the same time’ meant, but she had already opened the car door and walked out on her own.
Lu Junan rubbed his head: “Then let’s go down first?”
Then he stood up to get out of the car.
Song Ru, too, was already distressed and fearful because her Senior Brother had disappeared in the car; she couldn’t bear to stay any longer and was eager to leave.
But Liu Sheng pulled Lu Junan back, and Kuang Bowen simultaneously grabbed Song Ru, gritting his teeth and whispering, “Don’t be foolish.”
“You can’t get off the car without the tour guide’s permission. Did the tour guide just say you could get off?” Wen Weilan glanced at Lu Junan indifferently and said.
“Oh! It seems the little ones haven’t forgotten what the tour guide said, I’m so touched!” Suddenly, Li Mingzhu’s voice echoed in the car again.
Li Mingzhu’s corpse, which had been lying on the ground, suddenly sat up, stretched, wiped the blood from her mouth, and spoke.
Song Ru turned pale with fright: “You, you…”
“Hehe, aren’t you happy to see me again?” Li Mingzhu swayed as she stood up. Her peach-colored dress was stained even brighter by the blood, and her hair was matted into a clump from lying in the blood for too long.
“Alright! Since it’s proven that everyone has kept my words firmly in mind, let’s get off the car!”
“Cosmic Village welcomes you. Perhaps it will make you like it so much you’ll linger and forget to return!” As she spoke, she winked.
Then, the passengers in the car, who had remained silent and expressionless, stiffly stood up and walked one by one towards the car door.
Seeing this, Chen Shanyuan and the others quickly followed them, filing out of the car.
The car was truly unbearable; it was cramped, dark, and filled with the smell of blood.
Moreover, a car full of weird objects made the temperature inside plummet like an ice cellar, truly freezing people to death.
As soon as she got off the car, Liu Sheng’s eyes widened.
Although she hadn’t seen any Cosmic Village outside from inside the car, as soon as she stepped out, she saw an extremely lively village before her eyes.
This liveliness mainly referred to the considerable number of people in the village.
But the village itself was indeed just a village, completely unlike the science museum she had imagined.
The village houses were simple, scattered, with thatched roofs, surrounded by sparse, crooked bamboo fences.
The ‘Fu’ characters and couplets pasted on the doors had faded from red to a powdery white, looking like white funeral banners hung on every house in the dark night.
The villagers were all busy; some were feeding chickens and pigs, some were squatting by the well washing vegetables, and others were gathered in twos and threes chatting. At first glance, it looked like a typical daily scene in countless rural villages.
As soon as they saw the tour group arrive, they all enthusiastically surged forward.
Li Mingzhu, who had gotten off the car first, was waiting nearby. Seeing this situation, she waved her hand and smiled at the villagers, saying, “Everyone, don’t rush. They’re new here, let’s not scare them.”
After hearing this, everyone noticed that the villagers’ conditions were not quite normal.
Although most of them looked no different from normal people, quite a few villagers appeared to have disabilities or congenital deformities.
The proportion was quite high.
Liu Sheng looked around. One villager had an arm so long it almost touched the ground, another had a bulging back as if carrying an unspeakable creature, and some looked perfectly limbed but had unnaturally pale skin.
Moreover, in their eyes, without exception, burned extreme fanaticism, as they whispered among themselves while looking at the tourists.
They seemed very familiar with Li Mingzhu and were not angered by her words, probably knowing their appearance was frightening. They silently retreated, but their eyes remained fixed on them with concern and fervor.
“Don’t be afraid, they are all very friendly and kind, you will soon find out.” Another Li Mingzhu, covered in blood, walked over and said.
…
Looking at the few thatched huts before them, with large holes in their roofs, the Hunters of the Strange fell silent.
“How about it, satisfied? It’s an internet-famous Starry Sky House, where you can pick stars while you sleep!” Li Mingzhu was so excited her eyeballs seemed about to pop out.
They all felt that an internet-famous Starry Sky House shouldn’t be like this, although they didn’t quite understand what “internet-famous” meant.
“What if it rains?” Lu Junan asked cautiously.
“Cosmic Village is one of the best places for stargazing, how could it rain?” Li Mingzhu looked at Lu Junan with a slightly disdainful gaze, as if saying, “You don’t even know that.”
“In any case, everyone will stay here tonight and enjoy yourselves! However,” the other Li Mingzhu, who had already died once, changed her tone, “to ensure everyone has a better experience in Cosmic Village, there are a few points to note.”
“First, you can choose your preferred way to rest tonight.” Li Mingzhu blinked slyly.
“Second, if there’s a knock on the door while you’re sleeping, please do not open it, because good group members do not disturb the rest of other group members.”
“Third, when the stars in the sky align, the free activity time ends. Please stay where you are and do not move.”
“Remember, meet at the village entrance at the same time tomorrow.”
After saying these words, the two Li Mingzhus left without bothering with the bewildered crowd.
As for the other “group members,” they disappeared as soon as they entered the village, and it was unknown where they would stay tonight.
Chen Shanyuan said in annoyance: “So what exactly does ‘the same time’ mean?”
“It should be between the third quarter of Mao Shi and the exact Mao Shi,” Liu Sheng said calmly.
While the others were still puzzled, Wen Weilan and Kuang Bowen both looked as if they had suddenly understood.
Kuang Bowen stroked his chin: “We arranged to meet at the first quarter of Mao Shi (5 o’clock), bought tickets and got on the car, then flew for a while before crashing, and then Li Mingzhu appeared. About three or four quarters (45-60 minutes) must have passed, so the estimated meeting time for tomorrow is likely within that period.”
“Yes, that’s right,” Liu Sheng nodded.
Chen Shanyuan pondered for a moment and said, “Then let’s still wait here at the first quarter of Mao Shi tomorrow, to avoid missing the time. Does everyone have a timekeeping device?”
Everyone nodded, indicating no objection.
When going out to hunt the strange, timekeeping is essential.
Liu Sheng’s spirit message had a timekeeping function, but in the Weird Domain, that was all it had left.
There were only three thatched huts, perfectly allocated as one for the three boys and one each for the two girls.
Liu Sheng naturally shared a room with Wen Weilan.
After the rooms were assigned, Chen Shanyuan then arranged: “Let’s first explore the village in teams according to our houses, and then meet back in our house around noon.”